Ok first of all, i love online games and especially online RTS. From starcraft and age of empires to company of heroes and world in conflict i've enjoyed them all with other people. However, i purchased demigod recently and i've really enjoying my self playing with bots and after i got the hang of it i decided to go online of course. after some games though i got to say "no thanks i prefer my mindless bots".
First of all, the speed of the game. Forget the lag, the rage quits etc etc but come on playing on normal speed? the game is PAINFULLY slow. it doesnt test reflexes or skill. I can understand that playing on fast with bad pings is not the best idea but this is not what people complain about. I have tried to host a few games with the game speed on fast and people started leaving and complaining that its too hard to play on fast. our pings were <150 so latency wouldnt be a problem. even managed to launch a 3vs3 with game speed on fast, no lag at all and still got whining all the time. Am i the only one who thinks that demigod is no fun at normal or lower speed?
Secondly, the LAG horror. nope, its not the ping, it got nothing to do with peoples internet connections. its game lag, average joe with an overpriced pc from best buy cranks up his graphics settings to maximum ruinning everybodys game. Dawn of war 2 addresses this issue by initialising a kick vote for someone that lags the game due to low frames per second. is it so hard to implement this on demigod?
Last but not least: quiters. no i am not talking about rage quiters. if the game is unplayable due to lag or it is 100% certain that their team is going to lose then there is no point sitting and watching their citadel getting destoryed. In all professional RTS matches the loser quits when he sees that he cannot win. NOBODY wants to see their base getting destroyed. However, people randomly quitting the game for no reason is extremely annoying.
On the other hand with bots, i get to choose any map i want. the game is running on fast which tests your reflexes and makes the overall experience much much better. i constantly enjoy 60 frames per second which makes the game look beautiful in motion. finally, i'm in a game within seconds from launching demigod. so why play with people again?